************************************************* The week of 7/24/95 on T H I S W A Y O U T the international gay & lesbian radio magazine * In NewsWrap: Salvadoran death squads target AIDS workers and clients ... Venezuelan queers protest police bar raids ... the U.S. Navy learns the cost of trying to keep a sailor in the closet ... and several other stories ... * Folksinger PETER YARROW, of the legendary PETER, PAUL & MARY describes his awakening to the reality of the lesbigay rights struggle and his first actions of support in 1978, and introduces the first single released by Warner Bros. Records from the group's latest album "Lifelines", a duet between Mary Travers and Holly Near called "Home Is Where The Heart Is", a song that celebrates lesbigay families ... ... and more! ==========================*============================= --------- ===> NewsWrap <=== --------- [Compiled and written by CINDY FRIEDMAN, with thanks to Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Bill Stosine, and Ron Buckmire] HOMOPHOBIC TERRORISM IN EL SALVADOR HAS LED TO PROTESTS BY SEVERAL HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS, INCLUDING AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL; THE U.S.-BASED CISPES -- THE COMMITTEE IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF EL SALVADOR; THE INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION; AND EL SALVADOR'S OSCAR ROMERO AIDS PROJECT. ON JUNE 24TH, THREE GUNMEN ENTERED THE SAN SALVADOR OFFICES OF THE AIDS GROUP FUNDASIDA, THREATENING TO KILL THE STAFF AND CLIENTS THERE, AND SAYING THEY WERE LOOKING FOR FUNDASIDA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FRANCISCO CARRILLO IN ORDER TO KILL HIM. CARRILLO WASN'T THERE, BUT THE MEN ROBBED THE OFFICE OF ITEMS INCLUDING A COMPUTER CONTAINING DATA ON FUNDASIDA'S CLIENTS. SINCE THE BREAK-IN, FUNDASIDA STAFF AND CLIENTS, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE GAY MEN'S SUPPORT GROUP ENTRE AMIGOS, HAVE RECEIVED TELEPHONED DEATH THREATS DAILY. SOME OF THOSE CALLS HAVE MENTIONED LA SOMBRA NEGRA, "THE BLACK SHADOW", A NAME USED BY SEVERAL DEATH SQUADS IN EL SALVADOR THAT CLAIM TO PRACTICE "SOCIAL CLEANSING". THE AUTHORITIES CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO BE OF MUCH HELP. IN JUNE, THREE TRANSVESTITES IN THE AREA WERE MURDERED WITH REPEATED STABBINGS TO THE STOMACH AND SLASHES TO THE THROAT, BUT POLICE SHRUGGED OFF THE SIMILARITIES AND WROTE OFF THE KILLINGS AS "DOMESTIC" INCIDENTS. SAN SALVADOR MAYOR MARIO VALIENTE HAS PUBLICLY STATED HIS WISH TO "ELIMINATE" HOMOSEXUALS FROM HIS CITY, IN SUPPORTING NATIONAL LEGISLATION TO PUNISH GAYS WITH 3 DAYS IN JAIL AND HEAVY FINES. [Bay Area Reporter/San Francisco, CA; FocusPoint/Minneapolis, MN] MOVIMIENTO AMBIENTE DE VENEZUELA, THE VENEZUELAN GAY MOVEMENT, IS PROTESTING A SERIES OF POLICE RAIDS ON FIVE GAY BARS EARLIER THIS YEAR. THEY CLAIM THAT POLICE WERE PHYSICALLY AND VERBALLY ABUSIVE IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING A NUMBER OF ARRESTS. THE GROUP HAS FILED A COMPLAINT WITH VENEZUELA'S JUSTICE MINISTRY AND HAS CALLED FOR LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF THEIR COMPLAINT. [Seattle Gay News] AN INTERNATIONAL BODY INCLUDING MOST COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE HAS CALLED ON ITS MEMBER STATES TO END DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION. IT'S THE ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, OSCE, FORMERLY THE CSCE, THE CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, WHICH, IN ADDITION TO ALL BUT ONE EUROPEAN COUNTRY, ALSO INCLUDES ASIAN FORMER REPUBLICS OF THE U.S.S.R., THE U.S., AND CANADA. IN A MEETING IN OTTAWA, OSCE'S NEWLY FORMED PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY ISSUED A DECLARATION THAT IT "CALLS ON MEMBER STATES TO ENSURE THAT ALL PERSONS BELONGING TO DIFFERENT SEGMENTS OF THEIR POPULATION BE ACCORDED EQUAL RESPECT AND CONSIDERATION IN THEIR CONSTITUTIONS, LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION AND THAT THERE BE NO SUBORDINATION, EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED, ON THE BASIS OF... SEXUAL ORIENTATION", AMONG OTHER GROUNDS. THE SEXUAL ORIENTATION CLAUSE WAS INTRODUCED BY DENMARK'S REPRESENTATIVES AND PASSED OVER THE PROTESTS OF BULGARIA'S. THE INCLUSION OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION AS A PROTECTED CATEGORY IN THE AREA OSCE CALLS "THE HUMAN DIMENSION" HAS LONG BEEN A GOAL OF LOBBYING BY ILGA, THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ASSOCIATION. [per emailed news report from TWO correspondent Steffen Jensen] BUT ILGA'S EFFORT TO WIN REINSTATEMENT TO THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, OR ECOSOC, HAS LED TO A NEW REQUIREMENT FOR ILGA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS: A PLEDGE DECLARING THEIR OPPOSITION TO SEX BETWEEN ADULTS AND MINORS. BY A VOTE AT ILGA'S ANNUAL CONVENTION IN LATE JUNE IN RIO DE JANEIRO, ILGA DETERMINED THAT ANY MEMBER GROUP REFUSING TO SIGN THE PLEDGE WOULD BE SUSPENDED. IN 1993, AFTER YEARS OF TRYING, ILGA HAD FINALLY BECOME THE FIRST GAY AND LESBIAN GROUP TO GAIN CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECOSOC, ONLY TO BE EJECTED AFTER U.S. CONSERVATIVES LEARNED THAT NAMBLA, THE NORTH AMERICAN MAN-BOY LOVE ASSOCIATION, WAS AN ILGA MEMBER. ALTHOUGH ILGA HAD LONG HELD AN ORGANIZATIONAL POSITION AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN, AND IN 1994 ATTEMPTED TO APPEASE ECOSOC BY OUSTING NAMBLA AND 2 OTHER PEDOPHILE GROUPS, ECOSOC STILL SUSPENDED ILGA'S STATUS UNTIL ILGA COULD PROVE THERE WERE NO PEDOPHILE GROUPS IN ITS RANKS. THE NEW PLEDGE WAS DESIGNED TO MEET THAT REQUIREMENT. [The Washington (D.C.) Blade] THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ORDERED TO PAY THE LEGAL COSTS INCURRED BY NAVY PETTY OFFICER KEITH MEINHOLD IN HIS SUCCESSFUL TWO-YEAR BATTLE FOR REINSTATEMENT AFTER BEING DISCHARGED BECAUSE HE IS GAY. U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE TERRY HATTER, WHO ORIGINALLY ORDERED MEINHOLD REINSTATED AND ALSO DECLARED THE PENTAGON BAN ON GAYS AND LESBIANS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ON JULY 14TH ORDERED PAYMENT OF $440,000. THE GOVERNMENT WAS NOT YET PREPARED TO COMMENT ON THE ORDER, WHICH WAS MADE PUBLIC THIS WEEK BY MEINHOLD'S ATTORNEY, JOHN McGUIRE. McGUIRE SAYS "EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE" FOR MEINHOLD, WHO'S NOW SERVING ABOARD A SHIP IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. [Associated Press] SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA GAYS AND LESBIANS HELD THEIR 21ST ANNUAL PRIDE PARADE ON JULY 15TH BEFORE A CROWD POLICE ESTIMATED AT 20,000. THE PRESENCE OF PROFESSIONAL HOMOPHOBE FRED PHELPS OF TOPEKA, KANSAS AND ABOUT TWO DOZEN OTHER PROTESTORS DID NOTHING TO MAR THE EVENT, WHICH PROVED TO BE A JOYOUS CELEBRATION IN PERFECT WEATHER. ONE CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION WAS THAT THE SELF-AVOWED "NORMAL PEOPLE" WHO HAD SUED TO JOIN THE PARADE HAD DROPPED THEIR LAWSUIT IN THE WAKE OF THE RECENT U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION THAT PRIVATE MARCHES CANNOT BE FORCED TO INCLUDE GROUPS WITH CONTRARY MESSAGES. [Associated Press] POLISH GAYS AND LESBIANS CELEBRATED PRIDE IN MID-JUNE AT WARSAW UNIVERSITY, BUT NOT WITHOUT DIFFICULTY. THE UNIVERSITY RECTOR HAD DENIED THEM THE USE OF THE MAIN UNIVERSITY COMPOUND, SO THE GROUP OF ABOUT 100 ASSEMBLED INSTEAD AT THE UNIVERSITY'S SMALL YARD COURTYARD, BUT WERE SOON KICKED OUT BY UNIVERSITY SECURITY. THEY FINALLY WALKED OVER TO A PRIVATE CLUB CALLED GIOVANNI'S. THERE THEY DISCUSSED FUTURE PLANS, INCLUDING ESTABLISHING A MONUMENT TO GAY HOLOCAUST VICTIMS AT THE AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM. [Seattle Gay News] PRIDE IN THE NETHERLANDS IS KNOWN AS ROZE ZATERDAG, OR "PINK SATURDAY", AND THIS YEAR'S CELEBRATION WAS HELD IN HILVERSUM. POLICE ESTIMATED THAT 20,000 PEOPLE GATHERED AT THE HORSERACING TRACK THERE FOR A 90-MINUTE MARCH FOLLOWED BY A CONCERT AND FESTIVAL. THE AWARD FOR BEST INFORMATION BOOTH WAS WON BY THE HAGUE POLICE, WHO OFFERED FESTIVAL-GOERS THE CHANCE TO HAVE THEIR PHOTOS TAKEN ASTRIDE A POLICE HORSE OR MOTORCYCLE. [per emailed news item from TWO correspondent Bert Schuur] ACCORDING TO LONDON'S "GUARDIAN" NEWSPAPER, A NEW LAW IN FINLAND WILL MAKE DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION A CRIMINAL OFFENSE NATIONWIDE. THE MEASURE WILL GO INTO EFFECT ON SEPTEMBER 1ST. [Seattle Gay News] THE JAPANESE SOCIETY OF PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY HAS FINALLY RECOGNIZED THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT A MENTAL ILLNESS. UNDER PRESSURE FROM GAY AND LESBIAN ORGANIZATIONS IN JAPAN AND ELSEWHERE, THE SOCIETY HAS REMOVED HOMOSEXUALITY FROM ITS OWN LIST OF DISORDERS, AND WILL NOW USE THE CLASSIFICATIONS ESTABLISHED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. [Seattle Gay News] THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF CURACAO HAS ITS FIRST GAY ORGANIZATION, OFFERING A NEWSLETTER AND A MONTHLY CAFE NIGHT AS ITS FIRST STEPS TOWARDS SUPPORTING SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND CHALLENGING DISCRIMINATION. ITS NAME, ORGUYO, MEANS "PRIDE", AS ILLUSTRATED BY CHAIR RYMOLD HOS' REMARK THAT "GOD PUT US HERE FOR A PURPOSE, ON THE EARTH AND IN CURACAO. [Der Gay Krant] LONDON'S "CAPITAL GAY" NEWSPAPER, RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE TOP FIVE GAY AND LESBIAN PUBLICATIONS IN EUROPE, IS NO MORE. OWNER MICHAEL MASON ANNOUNCED THE END OF ITS 14 YEARS OF WEEKLY PUBLICATION ON JULY 4TH, CITING FINANCIAL PROBLEMS DUE TO LACK OF ADVERTISING. MONEY PROBLEMS ALSO LED TO THE RECENT ABRUPT DEMISE OF GERMANY'S GLOSSY NATIONAL GAY MAGAZINE "MAGNUS". [Seattle Gay News] SWEDEN'S GAY AND LESBIAN NEWSPAPER "THE REPORTER" HAS ALSO SUSPENDED PUBLICATION AFTER 9 YEARS. PUBLIC FUNDING THROUGH THE COMMISSION OF CULTURAL PERIODICALS THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY OFFERED SUBSTANTIAL SUPPORT WAS NOT GRANTED THIS YEAR, SENDING "THE REPORTER" INTO BANKRUPTCY. [per emailed news report from TWO correspondent Bjorn Skolander] BUT IN GREECE, EOK, THE HELLENIC HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNITY, HAS BEGUN PUBLICATION OF A NEW MAGAZINE. CALLED "OMNIKRON" FOR THE FIRST LETTER OF THE GREEK WORD FOR HOMOSEXUAL, IT INCLUDES AN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SUMMARY. [Gay & Lesbian Times/San Diego, CA] THE WORLD MOURNED THE DEATHS THIS WEEK OF TWO RENOWNED WRITERS. BRITISH POET SIR STEPHEN SPENDER, A SEMINAL LITERARY FIGURE IN THE 1930'S WHO WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF W.H. AUDEN AND CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD, DIED JULY 16TH AT THE AGE OF 86. HE MADE HEADLINES MOST RECENTLY WITH A LAWSUIT CHARGING THAT DAVID LEAVITT'S BOOK "WHILE ENGLAND SLEEPS" PLAGIARIZED SPENDER'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY "WORLD WITHIN WORLD", ALTHOUGH SPENDER'S BOOK DID NOT FEATURE THE EXPLICIT HOMOSEXUALITY OF LEAVITT'S. IN THE U.S., OPENLY LESBIAN FEMINIST, POET, NOVELIST, AND JOURNAL WRITER MAY SARTON DIED JULY 18TH AT THE AGE OF 83. HER FINAL BOOK, A JOURNAL OF HER 82ND YEAR, IS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. [Reuter News Service] SOME DISH TOO GOOD NOT TO PASS ALONG, ALBEIT POSTHUMOUSLY: ACCORDING TO A NEW RUSSIAN BOOK BASED ON LETTERS WRITTEN TO GAY AUSTRALIAN WRITER PATRICK WHITE BY RUDOLPH NUREYEV, THE GREAT BALLET DANCER HAD A TORRID AFFAIR WITH ROCK STAR FREDDIE MERCURY OF "QUEEN". [Gay Radio Information News Service/Sydney, Australia] AND FINALLY ... WHILE MANY GAYS AND LESBIANS STRUGGLE TO ADOPT CHILDREN, ONE MALE COUPLE IN GERMANY WAS SELECTED TO FOSTER AN INFANT ABANDONED BY HIS PARENTS. IN FACT, PINGU THE PENGUIN WAS STILL IN HIS EGG WHEN ZOOKEEPERS TURNED HIM OVER TO A PAIR OF MALE STORKS. THEY TOOK TURNS SITTING ON THE EGG FOR TWO WEEKS BEFORE LITTLE PINGU "CAME OUT". [Update/San Diego, CA] ************************************************* Some "THIS WAY OUT" operating expenses are funded by grants from THE C.P. ESTES GUADALUPE FOUNDATION and THE ADVOCATE, the award-winning national gay and lesbian newsmagazine; and by individual donations from listeners worldwide. -------------------------------------------------------- THIS WAY OUT airs on over 85 public/community radio stations throughout the U.S. and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, and on global shortwave station Radio For Peace International (RFPI). For a complete Station Carriage List and/or more information, write to THIS WAY OUT at P.O. Box 38327, Los Angeles, CA 90038-0327, or e-mail your request to: TWOradio@aol.com . 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